- Doctors in Gaza City say three more children have died of the “severe cold” as Israel continues to block the entry of tents and mobile homes into the Palestinian enclave.
- Palestinians say Israel is carrying out war tactics employed in Gaza in the occupied West Bank.
- Hamas accuses Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “intentionally sabotaging” the Gaza ceasefire deal by postponing the release of 620 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
- Gaza’s Health Ministry has confirmed 48,346 Palestinian deaths in Israel’s war on Gaza, while 111,759 people have been wounded. The Government Media Office updated its death toll to at least 61,709, saying thousands of Palestinians missing under the rubble are presumed dead.
- At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks and more than 200 taken captive.
Here is what happened today in Palestinian
- Israeli forces have stormed the Imam Ali Mosque on al-Mamoun Street in the city of Nablus, blowing off its doors and confiscating surveillance camera footage, according to the Quds News Network.
- Saudi Prince Khalid bin Salman says he and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth met in Washington, DC, on Monday, and “explored ways to bolster our defence cooperation”.
- US Senator Chris Van Hollen has condemned Trump’s decision to rescind a Biden-era order that required the US government to report potential violations of international law involving US-supplied weapons by allies, including Israel.
- The Palestinian Water Authority and UNICEF have begun operating 13 mobile desalination stations in Gaza, where displaced families are enduring a dire water crisis after Israeli forces destroyed 85 percent of the enclave’s water and sanitation facilities.
- Israel told mediators it would release 620 Palestinian prisoners, who were supposed to be released last Saturday, if Hamas hands over the bodies of four Israeli captives later this week “without a humiliating ceremony”.
Critically ill pope keeps in touch with Gaza church
The Vatican says Pope Francis, who has been hospitalised in critical condition with pneumonia in both lungs, is showing a “slight improvement” and he worked on Monday afternoon after receiving the Eucharist in the morning.
“In the evening he called the parish priest of the Gaza parish to express his fatherly closeness,” the Vatican statement said.
For more than a year, Francis has checked in daily via video call with the Argentinian priest, Gabriel Romanelli, who leads the Catholic community at the church, which during Israel’s war had served as a shelter for Palestinians.
Romanelli had reported hearing from Francis soon after he was hospitalised, but not since. He had sent Francis a video, and the pope called to thank him, the Vatican said.
